pixel8r

I thought the 2.5L only came with a turbo...I must've been mistaken... I do like the look of it from the outside I could also live with the interior, but I prefer our stagea interior - not as modern, but IMO better looking. If only they fixed the rear taillights - then the new stag would look perfect...still, if someone offered me one...

just an update on my own post from a few months ago... I now get an average of 12.5L/100km city driving, that is, not driving economically. So thats 1-1.5L/100km improvement thanks to a combination of turbo, exhaust, and safc. Not sure how much difference each mod has made (with regards to fuel economy) but I'm pretty happy with 12.5L/100km.

yeah sometimes it seems ok and sometimes it doesn't. I think a lot of it is to do with how hot the air is outside (and inside - making it work harder). Hotter air is less dense so the car doesn't perform as well as if it was cool air. Also I was reading other aircon related stuff on this forum and I got the impression that there is a 2nd fan (in front of the radiator, not the crank one) that will turn on/off as needed when the engine gets too hot?? Wondering if its something like this - some extra fan sapping more power from the engine?? i really dunno... Not sure how aircon works exactly but maybe there is a problem with cooling efficiency on really hot days? The temperature guage never moves once its up to temp so it doesn't seem too bad... I should stress that the air conditioning DOES work well and has no problems cooling the car down, so I dont think there are problems with the compressor pulley or anything (wouldn't this affect driving with aircon off as well?? - since i think the aircon belt spins all the time regardless of whether aircon is on or off...correct me if i'm wrong). And I have no problems with performance with air-con turned off. its only when air-con is on it just seems to really bog down and takes a while to build revs up when taking off from stand-still (taking off normally that is, I dont generally like to push the car very hard when its hot - its not good for it). Thanks for the replies - on the one hand it sounds like many people just live with a loss in performance with a/c on and on the other hand it sounds like there may be some problem there... I'll take more notice over the next couple of weeks and see if I can identify if it appears to be only when its under load (ie. a/c on and 30+ degrees outside, hot inside).

I guess thats pretty definitive isn't it? Any chance different cars would have different results? lol I posted the same question in the skyline section earlier tonight

I've only ever used bp ultimate in my stagea and I get 12.5L/100km on average. I'll hafta try out the new shell juice next time I need fuel and will see how it goes... unfortunately I dont have a shell servo near me that sells it...but if its noticeably better I'm sure I'll find a way to get it... EDIT: just noticed a thread in the SA section by someone else asking essentially the same thing... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...howtopic=144857

hmmm yes all too familiar with this... put it this way - I get away with it...sometimes. She gets annoyed if I take off quick etc. but she gets over it Its all good

er, nope. read the shell website - they reckon more performance than optimax. that pretty much means its not the same... quote from the website: "New Shell V-Power with Friction Modification Technology is designed to give you better responsiveness and improved performance in comparison with Shell Optimax, the fuel that it replaces." and another line from the website: "New Shell V Power leaves Shell Optimax behind." would be interesting to see how much better it is...

haha yeah there's always that. If I'm on my own I will avoid a/c until its really unbearable (windows down, sunroof open) but the wife always insists on turning it on (dont blame her really). Just wondering if everyone just puts up with having a significantly slower car in summer/hot weather or if there's some mod(s) that can be done to improve things...

The title probably says it all... In short, I dont believe I have anything unusual with my air conditioning setup...(ie. no problems etc.) Its just that with summer coming and with it a lot of hot weather I will therefore be doing a lot of driving with air conditioning on. And with air conditioning on the stagea takes more revs to get it moving and generally feels very "weighed down" as a result. I think revs also build slower... I'm sure we're all familiar with the effect of having air-con on. Just wondering if there is anything that can be improved on, obviously with the air-con still working Cheers, Steve.

nah with the stock boost solenoid it basically just has 2 settings. One is less restrictive than the other - I'm not sure if it closes up fully but I do know that when its "open" its not fully open. It basically just opens up at 4500rpm to bleed off some pressure which means you get a bit more boost (wastegate actuator sees a drop in pressure and closes again until pressure keeps building up again - this time with the solenoid open). The ECU grounds that black wire at 4500rpm to pull off this little trick. So all you've done is ground it permanently to force the solenoid to stay in its "open" state all the time. The result is that the pressure bleed-off is always there and hence you are on "high boost" mode all the time, instead of just at high revs. Cant really do anything bad. The worst case is you'll end up with 5psi constantly instead of 7-8psi.

Just wondering if anyone has tried Shell V-Power petrol? Its 98 octane and replaces Shell Optimax - and Shell's website/brochures claim it gives better performance etc. than optimax. There is also V-Power Racing which is 100 octane with 5% ethanol - which I presume is similar to the 100 octane optimax (cant remember the name). I might give vpower a go next and see how it compares to bp ultimate. Have only ever used ultimate in the past.

before the safc install (and with 3" exhaust) I was definitely hitting R&R at higher revs...very noticeable loss in power. Not a complete cut though, just felt like the car was running very rich all of a sudden. All good now though.

Yeah normally the writing on that cover is red. I'd say yours is just worn off or scrubbed off - at least thats what it looks like from the pic. Nothing to be worried about - that cover is purely cosmetic. If you took it off it would look more like the older rb25 (although it is not the same, just looks similar in appearance). And your wiring on the boost solenoid looks correct. If you dont have a boost guage they are a handy item to have. I have one that I haven't installed yet (one day...). I just connect the hose and run it out the bonnet near the vents (bonnet down obviously) and in through the window - then I can take it for a quick spin to check boost levels. I've only ever used mine for info purposes - as I wouldn't recommend driving and holding the guage this way for diagnostic purposes. It should hold 7-8psi all the way. If you see it hold 7-8psi from ~2500rpm (stock boost is only 5psi at around this rpm) and upwards then the solenoid mod is working Its not a huge gain but will give a little more response at lower revs from around 2500rpm to 4500rpm. The difference is noticeable but you quickly get used to it and want more... Probably the most noticeable performance mod for a stock stagea is a 3" turbo-back exhaust. and yes the strut brace is standard. Mine has a stagea sticker on it. I believe they are standard on skylines as well...

I think you're referring to vange's avatar??

If that is a flip-out TV/Nav thingy then its not the factory one. I have the factory option which is made by Xanavi (they do the tv/navigation systems for all nissans - including current models). Either way if its a japanese system then the TV will likely only accept ntsc inputs (if it does PAL as well then you have no probs). Others on this forum have managed to connect up a portable digital tv tuner that outputs to ntsc via a connection on the front of the tv unit....maybe you can do something like that? As far as navigation goes, that will depend on the system used by your unit. The factory Xanavi ones dont work here since the company has no plans to (a) convert them to english and (b) provide australian maps...so thats pretty much a showstopper. I believe some people have removed the internals of the unit and wired in an aussie portable satnav unit to work with the factory screen (including toughscreen capability)...but I dont know how far they got with this... Good luck with the car - it looks VERY VERY NICE!!!! Makes me REALLY want a dolphin bodykit (i believe thats the one yours has).

Some more pics

hehe obviously not you i'm just going by what the guy said his SAU Username was. didn't realise your number plate was stagen until just now. apologies for the confusion...

spotted about 20-odd skylines all "lined" up at west beach tonight... oh wait, my stagea was parked with 'em. photoshoot was cool - big thanks to those organising it

no worries. was 2 stageas there (including mine). The other one belonged to stagen(sp?) from this forum. He happened to pull up next to me at the lights today near TTP so I told him about the photoshoot and he ended up coming along no other stags turned up - bit disappointing but still cool to see all the 'lines "lined" up... check the SA section for pics - should look good. I'll upload some here when I get time... nearly didn't make it there myself - was quite busy but ended up rushing home to vacuum and wash the car before taking off down to west beach. Most people didn't stay that long - just long enough to get some good "official" photos and then go home

With regards to how many pcs you can run off one powerpoint, wouldn't that have something to do with how many amps each is pulling? Powerboards usually have a 10A fuse, regardless of how many outlets... Is it possible to measure how many amps an average high-spec'd pc draws and use that to work out how many could be run safely off a single powerboard etc? I presume powerpoints themselves also have a limit to how many amps they can provide? dont know enough about the electrical side of things to go any deeper into it. its also worth noting that a 350w power supply means 350w MAXIMUM (or "safe" maximum? before its likely to fail). It would normally run well below this amount, obviously depending on how much of the system you're using at any one time. I think the biggest power drawers are your video/tv cards and drives...from memory (used to be a tech years ago). plus I only have 2 pc's (running off separate powerpoints) so no problems at all. good luck with the "lan party"

sounds great! will look into it for sure

yeah i was thinking about that too - even if I just want to wind the boost up a bit - it'd need a retune to work properly. Not worth the $$ for a retune just for 10kw gain in my opinion. so i decided its better to wait until the next "upgrade" stage and do multiple things at once. better value for money that way... still, no rush. Have been over the moon about the performance of the stag since my last tune. that is, except for when the weather is hot, and the aircon must go on - turns the car into a slug, needing much higher revs than normal to get it to move nothing better than taking the car out for a thrash on a cold night...makes it really go!

Yeah I got the AWN 12 month warranty with mine and they dont cover any suspension components at all, and what they do cover is basically all the things that aren't likely to go wrong by themselves (engine, trans, etc) unless you're real unlucky. They were going to pay about $700 towards a replacement turbo (what a joke) but it had to be through one of their listed workshops (how many of us will take our imports to just any old mechanic??). I just paid full price elsewhere. Cost a lot more but at least it was done quick (no waiting months for a workshop thats never heard of a turbo let alone a stagea to find parts) and I could rest assured it was done properly. The warranty actually cost me nothing so I haven't lost anything - I guess its still better than no warranty at all. Within the 3mth/5000km period everything's still covered by the dealer either way.

isn't the stock r34 cooler meant to be good for 200awkw or close to? sure it wouldn't be at max efficiency at this level but I'm thinking I'd just get the power first and worry about that later - as long as its cool enough. One step at a time I want to boost it to 14-15psi eventually (like u said ~1bar). THEN it can stay like that (think i've said that before lol). Also the z32 would only be necessary once the stock afm is maxxed out - correct? still a little way off yet. I reckon I could squeeze another 10-15awkw out of it just by upping the boost and re-tuning...what ya reckon? I'm getting 13L/100km city driving to/from work with aircon on half the time which I think is fantastic. I've seen 12.5L/100 and that included about 10% with aircon on...so I reckon there's still more leeway for more boost yeah? Also, not sure why but my stock boost solenoid is still connected up to the intake piping as per before (not connected to wastegate tho - only the manual boost controller connects to that - and it appears to be done properly). Not sure if this would affect my boost level somehow - could be why its dropping off to 9psi?? Most people had good results with the needle valve boost controllers holding boost...but not me. If it held 11psi all the way I'd pick up 10awkw just there...

Hope all goes well with the new turbo. 200awkw is making me very jealous I'm also not far off the $30k mark on my stagea at the moment but an extra $1000 would give me very close to that magic 200awkw figure as well so I really cant complain. Upgrading the intercooler and brakes would take me over the $30k mark tho gives me plenty to look forward to... And with reference to rb25's being expen$ive to get power out of...I actually think $30k for a 200awkw family wagon with the handling and features that the stagea has is still not too bad. Gotta be happy with that IMO. Give those v8's a bit of a scare